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Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/11/2009
Posts: 1
Points: -144
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.
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I have just purchased an Irwin 38 which is losing water from the water tank, can anyone tell me where to start looking, and has this been a problem in the past.
Al Franco
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Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member
Joined: 11/19/2008
Posts: 3
Points: 9
Location: stony point, ny
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AL,
Sorry to hear about your water tank leak. I had a fuel tank leak in my 85 38 center cockpit. The fuel tank sits on top of the water tank, and is glassed in place. The water tank is "foamed" in place and is partially under the salon sole. The water tank is almost impossible to see or get at to inspect. It is also too large to remove through the companionway. Good luck on getting the repair done. Please let us know what was involved and how you make the repairs.
Capt Fred, s/v MERIDIAN
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Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
Joined: 11/18/2008
Posts: 34
Points: -377
Location: Orange Beach AL
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I don't have a 38 but have a 37 and I had a fuel tank leak. I opened up the tank and and caulked the seems with JB Weld. This stopped my problem. If you can get into your tank that may be an option. The JB weld is epoxy based so I would assume it would be OK on a water tank.
Let us know how it goes.
Ryan Rayfield
IrwinSailors.Com Administration
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Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member
Joined: 2/10/2010
Posts: 3
Points: 9
Location: Maryland
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I realize that this question was posted sometime ago and I wonder if the problem still exists. My 38 center cockpit has the fuel tanks on top of the water tanks. The fuel tanks can be removed and the top of the tank removed. There are lots of screws to remove and then the caulking. If you have cured the leak, then you will already have discovered this. If you haven't, hope this helps.
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Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/7/2010
Posts: 2
Points: 6
Location: Elizabeth City, NC
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I seem to have a slow leak in my forward water tank. I believe this is a galssed in tank. Before I tear into this does anyone have pictures of what the tank looks like on the inside, instructions, diagrams, etc...
Thanks,
Lou
S/V Calypso
1977 37'cc Ketch
Elizabeth City, NC
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Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/23/2011
Posts: 7
Points: 21
Location: NJ
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The most likely problem with your water tanks are pin hole leaks at the welded seams. I had the same problems years ago. The only fix that I came up with, since I was not going to tear out the old tanks that were fiberglassed into the hull which required removing the inside of the cabin. So here goes the fix.
The first thing that was done was to unscrew the cabin sole. This then gave me top access to the tank. I then cut a access hole 12" by 12" in the top center on the tank, and a cover plate was made from 1/4" aluminium. I also added a hand hole to check on water level. Now I was able to see the holes in the bottom of the tank, Some baffles plates were removed to see the whole bottom,after cleaning the tank and drying it, I then sanded it with 60 grit paper with a 1/6 sheet sander which is a small sander. all the holes were opened up and the area around them were sanded and cleaned.Then I used a etching solution for aluminium which I picked up in a hardware store and sprayed the tank with a hand sprayer. The tank was then flushed with water and dried. I then used marine text epoxy and toughed in a fillet along the seams that were bad after this harden the complete inside of the tank was rolled using west epoxy, four coats. This is like having plastic tanks.All this was done in 1 day having all the stuff needed on hand. It was faster then the other option of removing the tanks. It has been 8 years since this was done and no leaks. The most important thing to do is at winter layup is remove all the water from the tank with a wet dry shop vac thru the hand hole and cover plate and using a towel to dry the tank for the winter. this all takes just a few minutes at the end of the boating.
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